Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 18, 2012 12:06 am I've just come across some marble floor tiles for $29/sq m - seems like a bargain compared to any & all tiles in the tiles shops, and they look beautiful. But are there any problems with marble tiles? Are they less durable than porcelain or ceramic? Do they have to be resealed every number of years? I'd be thinking of using them in my office/living room. Thanks! Re: how do marble tiles fair? 2Oct 18, 2012 3:57 am I know the shell building was built 10-15 years ago in spring st melbourne has a Marble floor. One year later they had to cover it with carpet because it was too slippery Re: how do marble tiles fair? 3Oct 21, 2012 7:31 am marble is not really hard wearing. that is why in europe they make you take your shoes off before you come in. also it should be sealed like a lot of natural stone oils and grease etc get in and you cannot get rid of the stain. be careful with use Re: how do marble tiles fair? 4Oct 22, 2012 8:35 pm leighton marble is not really hard wearing. that is why in europe they make you take your shoes off before you come in. also it should be sealed like a lot of natural stone oils and grease etc get in and you cannot get rid of the stain. be careful with use I actually avoided buying marble tiles for this reason. I was too concerned about staining or etching the stone. Re: how do marble tiles fair? 5Oct 23, 2012 3:28 pm We have had polished white marble tiles in our foyer since I think 1990 (don't recall exactly, but I definitely recall we had them when I was a kid and we got our first puppy). In that time not a single tile has chipped or worn, they're barely showing any scratches, and it's been the main area of foot travel in the house being the entrance, no have we ever had a problem with it being slippery. I don't know what the problem is. Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. Re: how do marble tiles fair? 6Oct 23, 2012 4:50 pm Ive always thought that marble was more porous and would require more maintenance than porcelain tiles. Arfur Re: how do marble tiles fair? 7Oct 25, 2012 5:53 pm From some of the jobs I have been involved with over the years there is definitely harder and softer varities of marble. Like akashra, I know of some friends that we did a reno for in the late '80's who laid down a marble floor for their rear living area and hallway. Two kids, a couple of dogs and lots of parties later their floor still looks pretty good. Sure there are a few scratches and some grout joins look a bit "tired" but overall it looks nearly as good as the day as it went down. They did seal it a couple of times and are pretty neat and tidy people but are no way anal about looking after it. Other floors I have seen have been badly worn after only a few years. I think we in this country are a bit pedantic about pristine looking floors ( timber as well as stone floors ) whereas in Europe they are everywhere and treated as just a normal work surface - floor and benchtops. So it's got a few scratches - so what ! We are looking at laying limestone tiles for our front path and entrance and have no hesitation in doing so. Stewie Re: how do marble tiles fair? 8Oct 26, 2012 1:47 pm kylie40 I've just come across some marble floor tiles for $29/sq m - seems like a bargain compared to any & all tiles in the tiles shops, and they look beautiful. But are there any problems with marble tiles? Are they less durable than porcelain or ceramic? Do they have to be resealed every number of years? I'd be thinking of using them in my office/living room. Thanks! Seems like a great price for marble! I definitely wouldn’t lay marble on the floor unless it was in bathrooms because generally when your in a bathroom your bare foot or only wearing socks. Because marble is the softest of stones it will scratch and suck in any splits right away, even if it has been sealed. Granite on the other hand is a smarter option because it is a lot tougher and durable, in saying that though ALL natural stones will eventually scratch in hard wearing places. Safest option is surely porcelain. hard as a rock, cant scratch it and wont suck in any spills. Ceramic is generally a wall tile because it is so soft Re: how do marble tiles fair? 9Oct 27, 2012 2:45 pm Quote: Safest option is surely porcelain. hard as a rock, cant scratch it and wont suck in any spills. Ceramic is generally a wall tile because it is so soft No, ceramics generally means a clay based tile fired at high temps and some of them are extremely hard. Porcelain usually refers to a glazed tile where the glazing resembles glass. They are however very hard but usually gloss tiles. Fine for walls but pretty slippery when there is water on them . I wouldn't recommend them for floors because of this. We saw a young kid go base over apex in the hallway of a display home because the tiles were wet on a rainy day. Stewie Re: how do marble tiles fair? 10Oct 30, 2012 4:21 pm Well if you look at Rome or turkey they have marble lined streets that date over 2000 years old and still look pretty good. Living in Singapore everything is marble. Granite is too much like shopping malls. Travertine is good because if you do chip it is easily remedied. Floors can be resurfaced and if you are worried about etching don't get polished go for honed which is what it looks like when it's etched. I am leaning towards marble/ travertine because it is comparable price to polished porcelain and I like it. At the price quoted I would suss out laying and sealing costs to see what it will come to. If it works budget wise and u like the colour, go for it. Oh and btw, I believe in Europe as in Asia they take the shoes off to keep dirt out not to limit wear. Ciao Mark Re: how do marble tiles fair? 12Nov 03, 2012 2:06 am Kylie, if you like the marble and it fits your budget go with it. It will do you head in...... Re: how do marble tiles fair? 13Jan 09, 2013 8:30 pm What did you end up choosing for the floors. I'm considering polished concrete, travertine or bluestone and not sure which one. Slab is poured in two weeks so would like to make a decision before then. Any price guides on having them laid? on a steep learning curve...YIKES!!! Re: how do marble tiles fair? 15Jan 11, 2013 10:02 am Hi, I found a good article about understanding Marble & Limestone, short and straight to the point. It should give you a good idea whether it's the floor for you http://aquamix.com.au/sites/default/fil ... enance.pdf I love Marble but if your not prepared to maintain the polish than you will always notice etching and scratches Re: how do marble tiles fair? 16Jan 11, 2013 10:08 am koko2035 What did you end up choosing for the floors. I'm considering polished concrete, travertine or bluestone and not sure which one. Slab is poured in two weeks so would like to make a decision before then. Any price guides on having them laid? Polished Concrete can require as much maintenance as all polished calcium based stones (Marble, Limestone Travertine). Honed Travertine is an relatively easy floor to maintain. I would stay away from Bluestone, it's by far the most problematic stone on the market, cheap Chinese bluestone can warp, picture frame stain and is very hard to polish well. Re: how do marble tiles fair? 18Feb 27, 2014 8:18 am I know of a an very experienced tiler, who on a job I was working on, was to tile with marble, the concrete columns and walls to 1500 high, inside an old solid brick 3 storey building on the ground floor. All looked fine when he had finished,-about 2 months later the glue started to bleed through and showed as dark patches on the face. This glue was recommended by the tile supplier.They all had to be replaced. The tile supplier took the blame and paid the price.,didn't tell the installer he had to seal the back of the tile first.It was all redone.,using new marble tiles and a sealer recomenended by the supplier. Again looked great when finished,but later on the tiles began coming loose. Apparently the sealer as recommended wasn't compatible with the glue. They all had to come off again.,and it was redone at the supplier's expense using porcelain.The tiler refused to do it a third time,can't blame the poor fellow, The work he had put into it,mitreing the corners around the columns, all on 400x400 x about 18mm thick tiles. Hi All, This is my first bathroom Reno and tiler has just finished installing marble tiles…only problem is they don’t look right? There are holes in the grout, really… 0 4599 Hi, we live in an area where the black soil is prone to a lot of movement. 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